Bimmer+Ladder+Highway= Tranny Leak
 

A friend of mine drove over a ladder that lay across 2 lanes on the 91 heading towards queensborough bridge. He was in the left lane when he saw the ladder and it was too late to change lanes. Pulled over about maybe 150m and inspected the car and no damage to body but a look underneath was a massive transmission leak!!! This is a 2012 328i btw. ICBC say 100% his fault and his insurance rates will go up. Any chance of him getting out of this with no faults on his behalf??:facepalm:

IIRC if he pays for the repair 100% by himself his insurance won't go up, but that's all. As far as I can see it is his fault unless the car in front of him dropped the ladder and he ran over it. That's probably the only situation you could argue. If the ladder has been there for a while... Sorry, guy... Shoulda been paying attention to the road.
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There was a white van that he had been tailing after the collision. The van sort of put on the brakes and probably looked in the mirrors and saw the mangled ladder and just sped off towards the bridge, no chance of getting plates. Tow truck driver that picked up the bimmer said there was no ladder to be found on the way for pick up.

ICBC's stance is always going to be "driver should have been looking ahead at the road" thus avoiding any obstructions and obstacles ahead of time. And if i'm in my truck and see something like a ladder just laying there, i'd get out and grab it, just like many others out there. So no wonder it was gone by the time the tow truck driver came by.

DAMN that sucks... He's out of luck unless he pays for it himself though. :/ Just be thankful it didn't come through his front windshield at 100km/h though...

if it's just a transmission leak, it may just require a new transmission cooler hose ($300+) assume the ladder didn't puncture the transmission housing.

put a new trans pan on and refill.

Well currently it's at a tow yard in Richmond and a claim is already made. Just have to wait for estimator to take a look at it. Anybody know if there's still an option of not going through icbc and just fixing it privately after the estimate or is it too late to cancel claim?
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You can withdraw the claim any time you want. I suggest you let the adjustor look at it first.

Also remember if you go ahead with the claim, the car will show it will have an accident on its car history (vs non if done previously).

Another point is it won't hurt to get a quote from places like CG Motorsport etc once the adjustor look at it, because they might be able to get it done a bit cheaper than the dealer if it is ancillary component or they need a whole transmission assembly from BMW.

if it's a lease and you reported already


good luck :lol

???

I had the same thing happen to me but with a rock that fell out of the back of a truck. ICBC said I was 100% at fault after they towed my car and brought it to the lot. I paid for the repairs out of my pocket and ICBC only charged me for the towing fees.

thing is, to icbc, this is considered a single vehicle accident because you cannot provide anyone else who may be 'at fault' for this, ie the guy who dropped the ladder on the road.
so icbc's stance would be: 'you should be avoiding obstacles on the road and be paying attention'.
which is true. but still shitty luck for your friend.

unfortunately, like everyone else said, icbc basically treats this the same as if you backed into a wall in a parking lot. you either pay for damages yourself or your insurance goes up if you claim it.

this happened to me before except mine was swerving into the curb to avoid some guy that didn't shoulder check. should have hit him instead.

Sucks to be him. Good time to invest in a dashcam
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I'd be worried of more damage to the car you can't see like suspension/fuel lines etc.